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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Most people are fortunate to have birthdays far removed from Christmas. I am not one of those people. So here's what I REALLY want for my birthday, but I probably won't get it.

-A high investment light rail for the Purple Line.-Streetcars!-Extend the Green Line to Laurel, or better yet Fort Meade-Drastically improve pedestrian facilities in PG County-Removal of some of the parking lots at the Pentagon, Andrews, and Ft. Meade-The Silver Line and associate redevelopment of Tysons Corner-Mixed use development with mixed income housing on the power plant site in River Terrace-Better street connectivity in Wheaton, Silver Spring, Southeast, Arlington, Fairfax, Gaithersburg, and a slew of other towns.-A better economy so I can sell my house and move somewhere closer to decent transit-A commuter car-24 hour Metro, even if it was single tracked-Some kind of Metro station in Georgetown, Adams Morgan, Laurel, National Harbor, Fairfax, Bailey's Crossroads, Seven Corners, Andrews AFB, Fort Meade, and a bunch of other places-UDC getting a new campus at Saint Elizabeth's West and helping make them a serious university-Removal of all reversible lanes in the DC area-Redskins in the playoffs-Nationally regulated coast-to-coast high speed rail-Separated Blue Line-A Purple line that circumnavigates the entire city-Federal policy creating better urbanism on US military bases throughout the world-Jeanette Sadik-Khan for Transportation Secretary-Better urbanism for affordable housing-More green roofs-Smarter/more beautiful stormwater runoff management-The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup-An overhaul of federal and state policies regarding urban planning geared toward smart growth-Less pollution along the Anacostia watershed, and other watersheds-Anything that will lower my BG&E bill!-Sidewalks and crosswalks in my neighborhood, particularly on Route 1-Legal allowance of ancillary units (granny flats) in all jurisdictions in the DC area-Replace cloverleafs with SPUI's-Relaxation of the height limit laws in parts of the District, particularly near Metro stations-Better highway connectivity in the District, and removal of useless freeways like I-695-MARC service to Ocean City-Something, anything faster, cheaper, and with more coverage than Acela-DC voting rights-The ICC bike path, and a light rail along the highway while we're at it-High speed rapid transit along US 29 between Silver Spring and Columbia-Realization of the Baltimore Rail plan-Fewer traffic deaths-The Columbia Pike (VA) light rail-Urban infill in PG County, Southeast, Northeast, and western Alexandria, among other areas-Better DC Public Schools-The Fillmore in Silver Spring-Peace on earth, good will toward man

If anyone out there can facilitate any of that for me by Sunday, it'll be a happy birthday.

my suggestion is building the East Leg roughly via the final early 1970s design, but covered with a new waterfront terrace to make the area more accessible to pedestrians, with an 'orb' interchange encircling RFK Stadium.

My problem with the Barney Circle connector is its conflict with the idea I prefer, a Massachusetts Avenue Bridge

Michael, No, I don't own the book. I just started reading urban planning books this year, and that one is definitely on my list.

Cavan,

I actually did recommend it, here: http://imaginedc.blogspot.com/2008/07/dc-freeways.htmlI believe this is a viable option because more bridges equals more street connectivity, which is the hallmark of good urbanism, in my opinion.

Douglas,

You'll recall that I only want them to revive the Barney Circle Bridge if they boulevardize the portion of the Anacostia Freeway on the other side of the river and minimizing the New York Avenue thru-way connection to the John Hanson Highway. I believe it is redundant and a waste of riverfront to have freeways flanking both banks of the river.

My philosophy is not to build out the entire 50's proposal nor to tear out all the freeways, simply to rearrange what we have into something far more logical. What we have now is a series of dead end freeways that rely on city streets for continuity of the network. This is not how highways, particularly urban highways, should to be utilized.